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In James Blackman, Florida State gives Louisville a glimpse of the one that got away

Louisville’s coaches will know their opponent’s quarterback well on Saturday.

They thought James Blackman would be playing for them.

Blackman is the true freshman starting quarterback for Florida State, which hosts Louisville this weekend. The Seminoles entered the season with national title aspirations riding on Deondre Francois under center. But Francois suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener against Alabama, thrusting Blackman into action.

For Louisville, for now, Blackman is the one that got away.

Two summers ago, the Cardinals brought him up from South Florida to participate in Bobby Petrino’s Quarterback Academy. Petrino liked Blackman, liked the way he threw the ball, liked the way he snapped his wrist when he let it go. He has praised Blackman at every chance this week, in his press conference Monday, on the ACC coaches teleconference Wednesday and on his radio show Wednesday night.

“It was fun,” Petrino said, recalling the camp. “He’s a very good young man and a really good player and was really into it. You could see his motivation and how much he concentrated and how hard he practiced.”

That camp was two summers ago. The following December, Louisville offered Blackman a scholarship. More offers followed, but Blackman appeared to be leaning toward Louisville.

“We need to get him up here,” Blackman’s high school coach at Glades Central, Rick Casko, recalled Louisville’s coaches saying. “And then once they get him up there, then it was really them and James. It was pretty well-done. ‘Coach, we want that kid.’”

“He’s a very good young man and a really good player and was really into it. You could see his motivation and how much he concentrated and how hard he practiced.”

Bobby Petrino, on scouting Blackman

Blackman was tall and thin — even now, he’s listed at 6-foot-5 and just 169 pounds — but showed enticing potential. Petrino is a quarterbacks coach by trade with a knack for picking out subtle aspects of a quarterback, like Blackman’s wrist, and building off of them.

When Louisville was in the market for Blackman’s services, Petrino was also in the middle of developing another promising quarterback from Florida’s Palm Beach County by the name of Lamar Jackson. If Petrino had signed Blackman, he would have been a contender to succeed Jackson. Louisville invited Blackman to a camp in June of 2016 and liked him again.

“He really made his commitment,” Casko said. “He really was going to go. Then FSU came in the picture.”

According to 247sports.com and media reports, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher invited Blackman to his camp on July 21, 2016. After the camp, Casko said Fisher called and gave the same message Petrino did: He had to have him. Florida State offered Blackman a scholarship.

Two weeks later, Blackman committed to play at Florida State.

“I think it was more the feeling,” Casko said. “He just, all of a sudden, said, ‘Coach, this is where I want to be after feeling and being at the other places.’ It was very close. It was a hard decision. It wasn’t, ‘Oh, I’m going to FSU.’”

But Louisville could not compete, Casko said, with the pro-style offense, the prestige and most importantly the proximity that Florida State offered. In addition, by the time Blackman visited Tallahassee, Petrino had already earned a commitment from another 2017 quarterback, Malik Cunningham.

Louisville and Florida State will continue to battle on the recruiting trail, as the Cards have picked up 12 of their 19 commitments in the 2018 class from the state of Florida, which makes for some interesting matchups on the field.

Saturday pits Jackson against Blackman in a Palm Beach County duel. If Jackson leaves for the NFL after this year, the Cards could start redshirt freshman Jawon Pass, a top recruit from Alabama, or Cunningham. When Francois leaves, the Seminoles will presumably roll with Blackman.

They inserted the true freshman earlier than anticipated because of Francois’ injury. They will give Louisville a glimpse of what it missed on Saturday.